DISTRIBUTION OF WEIGHT. 63 



of ordinary horses, without the work on foot ; but it will 

 take very much longer to do so, and will require far more 

 skill in the operator. According to my experience, the work 

 on foot, which I shall describe later on, can produce on 

 difficult horses good effects which, without its assistance, 

 are unattainable by any rider or driver, however excellent 

 his " hands," and however great his pluck may be. 



COMBINED ACTION OF FORE AND HIND LEGS, AND DISTRI- 

 BUTION OF WEIGHT ON THEM. 



The locomotive machinery of the horse should be viewed 

 as a whole in its working, and not as made up of independent 

 portions ; and that, in all forms of useful movement, there 

 should be perfect harmony between the respective action of 

 both fore and hind limbs, and even of each separate limb. 

 In the ordinary course of turning the saddle horse, for 

 instance, it is therefore illogical to act only on the mouth ; 

 for by doing so, the tendency will be to cause the hind legs 

 to revolve round the pivot formed by the fore ones, which 

 bear the greater proportion of weight, instead of the revolu- 

 tion being made by both pairs of legs on a pivot somewhere 

 between them. Riders who attempt to guide the horse 

 entirely by the reins treat him as if he had only one end, 

 namely, the forehand. An admirable illustration of the 

 evil results of this incapable method is afforded by the 

 trick many horses have acquired, when they refuse or run 

 out, of yielding only the head and neck to the pull of the 

 reins, and not, as they ought to do, bringing their hind- 

 quarters round at the same time. It is manifest that the 

 control of the head and neck which the rider has in Fig. i, 

 is of no use to him in putting the horse straight to the fence, 

 so long as the animal retains command over the action of 

 his hind legs. The horse which has been taught to answer 



